10 Tips for Securing Your Movable Type Installation

After the recent hacking of PBS.org (most likely caused by a 0day exploit in an older version of Movable Type 4), it is probably a good idea to review the security of your Movable Type installation. To help you, we compiled this list of ten security tips, with help from the engineers at Six Apart Japan.

1 Always run the latest version

This can't be stressed enough. There aren't that many obligatory security upgrades released for Movable Type, but when they come out, do install them. Hackers often compare updated versions of a piece of software with the previous version to spot the vulnerabilities that were fixed so they can exploit them. Stay ahead of them and update as soon as you can when a new version comes out!

2 Rename the admin script

What good is an exploit that targets the admin backend of Movable Type if the hacker can't find it? Simply rename mt.cgi to something else ending in .cgi and then put an AdminScript directive in your Movable Type configuration file (mt-config.cgi) telling Movable Type where the admin script now lives. Example: if you renamed your script to hackersgoaway.cgi, you should add following line to mt-config.cgi

If you run Movable Type on a webserver that you fully control, you can configure it so that the admin script is only accessible from a certain IP address or using an (extra) password using Basic Authentication, or only coming from your intranet... If you are running an apache webserver, have a look at this: http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/howto/auth.html

4. Use SSL

If you can, use SSL to connect to your admin script (and other scripts).

This will stop any hacker snooping for login information on (for example) an insecure wireless network connection.

5. Don't allow script execution in the folders where you publish your blog or website

If you are not using dynamic publishing, configure your web server not to execute any scripts in your content directory. This will prevent someone from publishing a working "hack.php" template for example.

6. Run MT in a staging environment

If you are not using trackbacks, comments or the built-in search script, run MT within your DMZ if you have a firewalled network. Then set up MT to publish static files to an external server using the built-in sync mechanism (see http://www.movabletype.org/documentation/appendices/config-directives/synctarget.html for more info). The only thing visible to the outside world will be static files (.html, .css, images...) which are quite hard to hack (if it is at all possible).

7. Limit uploadable/embeddable files

If you are running an installation where the public can sign up for an account, or you don't trust all your users, limit what types of files they can upload or which domains they can embed from using following directives:

Movable Type allows you to let commenters create an account on your installation so they can have a user profile, avatar etc. If you don't need these functions, or you are happy with anonymous commenters or commenters that authenticate via OpenID, Facebook... you can switch off user registration entirely under Settings > Registration for your blog. On the same screen you can allow a whole host of alternative authentication options. This way, you get the benefit of letting your commenters have a fixed identity, without giving them a way to upload/post anything to your system other than comments.

9. Stick to trusted plugins

Don't just install any plugin you find on the internet. They might contain malicious code or be written in a way that renders your installation vulnerable to hacking. If you absolutely need the functionality provided by a plugin, make sure it comes from a reputable source and has been around for a long time so that most bugs have had time to be found and fixed.

10. Have a difficult to guess password

Obvious reallly, but many people still get stung by this one. Also, don't reuse passwords you use elsewhere on the web: if one of these other places has their password list exposed, your site is now vulnerable too.

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